Is the color by numbers generator free?

Yes. Uploading a photo, choosing the number of colours and looking at the finished colouring page costs nothing, and there is no account. You only pay if you want the printable PDF.

Does it work for children as well as adults?

Both, but not with the same settings. For children pick 24 colours or fewer, which gives big calm areas that a young hand can fill in. For adults 36 to 48 colours keeps the shading and turns it into an evening of work.

Which pencils do I need?

Any set you already own. Every number comes with a colour swatch and its hex code, so you hold your own pencils against the swatch and pick the closest. A box of twelve is enough if you also pick twelve colours.

Can I print it on A4 at home?

Yes. The page is laid out for A4 on a normal home printer, in three sheets: the numbered colouring page, the finished image to work towards, and the colour legend.

What is the difference with paint by numbers?

The pattern is the same idea, the medium is not. Color by numbers is made for pencils and markers on paper, so the areas are larger and there are fewer of them. Paint by numbers is made for acrylic paint on canvas.

Where can I find a colour by numbers book?

Bookshops and craft shops sell them, and every page in one is a drawing somebody else picked. Here you print your own instead: a photo you chose, as many pages as you want, on plain A4. Cheaper than a book after two pages, and nobody else has the same one.

How do I make a color by numbers page from a photo?

Pick the photo, pick how many colours you want, and the numbered page appears within a few seconds. Check one detail that matters — an eye, a nose — at full size: if that area is still recognisable, you are done. If not, add colours or crop tighter and run it again.

Is there an app to make a color by number?

You do not need one. This runs in the browser on a phone, a tablet and a laptop, and on a phone you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app. Nothing to install, no account.

Can I use my own photo?

That is the whole point of the tool. Your photo is turned into a colouring page in your own browser, so it never leaves your device unless you decide to order the printable version.

Turn your photo into a color by numbers page

Same generator, made for pencils and markers instead of paint. Pick your photo, print it on A4 and start colouring.

1. Which pencils do you have?

Crayola 24 The classic box. Bold, graphic result — few skin tones, so faces come out poster-like. Crayola — large box The wider Crayola colour range. Softer and closer to the painted result, but you need a bigger box. Any brand No brand restriction. You get the exact colours with hex codes, so you can match them to whatever you already own.

2. Detail

24 36 48

3. Choose your photo JPG, PNG or WebP

Free and unlimited · No account needed

A numbered pattern with a colour legend beside it — Every area gets a number, and the legend tells you which colour it is.

Print it at home

Three pages on A4: your colouring page with the numbers, the finished image to work towards, and the colour legend with a swatch for every number.

€ 4,95

Generating and looking is free. You only pay for the printable version.

Pencils that match the legend

These are affiliate links: it costs you nothing extra and it helps keep the tool free.

An A4 colouring page on a wooden table, the left half filled in with coloured pencil and the right half still white, with a small card next to it showing a row of colour swatches. — The legend is a row of swatches: hold your own pencils against it and pick the closest.

How the colour legend works

Every number in the pattern comes with a colour swatch and its hex code. Hold your own pencils next to the swatch and pick the closest one — that works with any set you already own, whether it is a supermarket box or an artist range.

We deliberately do not print a brand and pencil number next to every area. Pencil ranges differ per country and per batch, and a name that does not match the pencil in your hand is worse than no name at all.

How many colours to pick

With pencils you blend less than with paint, so fewer colours usually looks better. Twenty-four gives a bold, poster-like page. Thirty-six is the balanced choice. Forty-eight keeps subtle shading but asks for a large pencil set to do it justice.

For a child or for yourself: change one setting

For children

Pick 24 colours or fewer. That gives large, calm areas a child can fill in without going over the line every time, and it keeps the number of pencils manageable. Photos of a pet or a single face work far better than a group or a busy street.

For adults

Go to 36 or 48 colours. The shading survives, the areas get small enough to be genuinely absorbing, and a single page becomes an evening rather than twenty minutes. Print on A3 if you want to keep the fine areas workable.

For a classroom or a worksheet

A colouring page made from a photo the class knows — the school building, a class pet, the teacher's dog — lands differently than a printed template of a butterfly. Keep it to twelve colours or fewer and the areas stay large enough for a six-year-old with a thick pencil. Everything prints as black outlines on white, so a stack of thirty costs you thirty sheets of paper and nothing else.

Want a sum instead of a number? Print the page and write your own exercise next to the legend: number 4 becomes 2+2. The legend is a plain list, so that takes a pen and two minutes.

On screen, or on paper?

This makes a page to print and colour by hand, not a game you tap through. There is nothing to install: the tool runs in your browser on a phone as well as a laptop, and on a phone you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app.

One thing it deliberately does not do: pixel grids. A pixel colouring page turns your photo into squares of one colour each, which is a different craft and a different tool. Here the outlines follow the shapes in your photo, so a face still reads as that face.

Color by numbers generator — frequently asked questions

Is the color by numbers generator free?: Yes. Uploading a photo, choosing the number of colours and looking at the finished colouring page costs nothing, and there is no account. You only pay if you want the printable PDF.
Does it work for children as well as adults?: Both, but not with the same settings. For children pick 24 colours or fewer, which gives big calm areas that a young hand can fill in. For adults 36 to 48 colours keeps the shading and turns it into an evening of work.
Which pencils do I need?: Any set you already own. Every number comes with a colour swatch and its hex code, so you hold your own pencils against the swatch and pick the closest. A box of twelve is enough if you also pick twelve colours.
Can I print it on A4 at home?: Yes. The page is laid out for A4 on a normal home printer, in three sheets: the numbered colouring page, the finished image to work towards, and the colour legend.
What is the difference with paint by numbers?: The pattern is the same idea, the medium is not. Color by numbers is made for pencils and markers on paper, so the areas are larger and there are fewer of them. Paint by numbers is made for acrylic paint on canvas.
Where can I find a colour by numbers book?: Bookshops and craft shops sell them, and every page in one is a drawing somebody else picked. Here you print your own instead: a photo you chose, as many pages as you want, on plain A4. Cheaper than a book after two pages, and nobody else has the same one.
How do I make a color by numbers page from a photo?: Pick the photo, pick how many colours you want, and the numbered page appears within a few seconds. Check one detail that matters — an eye, a nose — at full size: if that area is still recognisable, you are done. If not, add colours or crop tighter and run it again.
Is there an app to make a color by number?: You do not need one. This runs in the browser on a phone, a tablet and a laptop, and on a phone you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app. Nothing to install, no account.
Can I use my own photo?: That is the whole point of the tool. Your photo is turned into a colouring page in your own browser, so it never leaves your device unless you decide to order the printable version.

Looking for paint on canvas instead of pencils on paper? The paint by numbers generator works the same way, sized for acrylics.